Universal Access can only work if there are enough Family Physicians

The New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians applauds Senator Joseph Vitale and Assemblyman Neil Cohen for their efforts, unveiled today, at developing a plan that will eventually lead to access to care for all of New Jersey's citizens. We must, however, caution all lawmakers to learn from the mistakes made in earlier efforts to provide similar access in other states. Clearly, providing insurance coverage is only one piece of the Universal Access puzzle. The greater challenge may prove to be providing enough physicians to care for us. No Universal Access plan can hope to be successful if New Jersey is not a place that fosters interest in Family Medicine and other primary care disciplines among medical students, provides the highest quality Family Medicine education and training possible, and finally maintains a practice environment that retains those Family Physicians in New Jersey.



In last month's post, I suggested that many believe the Universal Coverage plan in Massachussetts is failing because the state’s primary care infrastructure is unable to handle the influx of healthcare “consumers.” In short, the law has provided insurance, but no access. This conflict exists because there are not enough primary care physicians in the state.

The NJAFP believes that those same leaders in New Jersey government who have been courageous enough to take on the issue of Universal Access must also have the foresight and political will to make the difficult choices necessary to bring balance to a system that currently rewards high-cost specialties at the expense of the primary care disciplines that have been proven time and time again to deliver significantly better outcomes at lower cost.